Strengthening volunteering and clubs is a central promise of the federal government. She takes the first steps early – and has room for improvement.
Associations have been grown under increasing bureaucracy for years, volunteers have to find their way around registers and regulations in a jungle. The black and red federal government has announced that it would even introduce itself to this topic, and even introduced a Minister of State for Sport and Volunteering in Christiane Schenderlein.
The CDU politician sits in the Chancellery, so close to the power center. And that seems to be wearing the first fruits. At least Jan Holze, board member of the “German Foundation for Engagement and Volunteering” (Dseer), emphasizes that the government initiated concrete steps early on. “Otherwise the topic of volunteering was usually tackled towards the end of a legislative period”, says wood in an interview with the sports show.
Bundestag and Federal Council still have to agree
The first draft of the Tax Change Act 2025 has been available for a week. If the Bundestag and the Federal Council decide in an unchanged form, some details will change for clubs and volunteers, for example:
- The Trainer flat rate Should increase from 3,000 to 3,300 euros – up to this limit, the trainers do not have to pay taxes on their fees.
- The Volunteer should increase from 840 to 960 euros.
- Clubs are not allowed to accumulate too much money, so they have to prove that they used promptly have. So far, this obligation to provide proof of income of 45,000 euros – this hurdle increases to 100,000 euros.
- In the future, clubs may be 50,000 euros (instead of 45,000 euros) make tax -free (for example through catering, advertising or fan articles).
- So far, all clubs have had their income from different Spheres assign (ideeler operation, economic operation …). In the future, only the clubs that take more than 50,000 euros from economic activities will have to do this.
The German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) has the most important details summarized on his website and writes: “We will work to ensure that all of these planned measures are adopted by the legislator so that clubs all over the country benefit from it.”
Hood sees further needs
Holze notes that the trainer flat rate should increase by ten percent – and thus only half as much as inflation since the recent increase in 2021. He sees positive that the majority of the clubs benefit from bureaucracy releases because they have manageable economic income. For them, the obligation to use a timely use of funds and the sphere assignment are eliminated.
Jan Holze, German sports and foundation official
In a survey by the Dsee, 77 percent of those surveyed said in February that the bureaucracy load for their club was high or very high. Against this background, wood continues to see a need for action, for example in data protection or in the register bureaucracy.
To maintain several registers
Club register, transparency register, lobby register, receiver register: Everything must be maintained by the volunteers. “Here it would be ideal to reduce everything to a register in which you can store all the information”, says wood.
The former chairman of the German Sports Youth has hope that Berlin will continue to invest: “I understood Minister of State Christiane Schenderlein in such a way that she would like to ensure further relief and relief in the course of the legislature and that the previous package is only a start. And I think that’s a good thing.”